Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
There were a few mutters and gripes, but for the most part—and with the notable exception of Grand Wizard Henkelman who might or might not have gotten a splinter in his penis the night before from getting frisky with a knothole—the rest of The Council of Wisdom seemed to agree with her.
I gave the elder witch a grateful nod and thanked them all for their forgiveness. Then I excused myself and Goody Albright walked me to the front door.
“Well, that went better than we could have hoped for, I think,” she said, beaming at me as we stepped out onto the wide front porch. “You’re lucky that Goody Tandy took a liking to you—that’s the witch who got everyone to promise to stop by the bakery,” she added. “It was nice of you to come apologize in person.”
“Of course,” I said. “I couldn’t let you take responsibility when it was all my fault.”
“Well, not all your fault. I’m the one who gave you the picture of the Incubus to start with,” she said apologetically. “I’m so sorry—I didn’t know what a mess it would make. Where is that handsome devil now?” she added, looking around as though Malik might suddenly appear out of thin air.
I shrugged unhappily.
“I don’t know—back in Hell’s Waiting Room, I guess. I haven’t seen him since I told him off yesterday.”
“I bet he’s not too far away,” she said, patting my arm. “I can tell you have feelings for him, despite the mischief he caused.”
“No, I don’t!” I protested.
“Oh, really?” Goody Albright looked at me skeptically over the rim of her gold spectacles. “Are you sure about that?”
“Okay, I do have feelings for Malik—but he’ll never want to see me again after the way I talked to him!” I said.
“Don’t be too sure about that, dear. After all, he has ties to your bloodline and your family. That counts for a lot in the magical world,” she told me. “All you need to do is call his name and I bet he’ll appear instantly.”
“I just don’t—” I began but just then a strange looking person came up the porch steps and approached me.
“Excuse me, but are you Celia Hatch?” she asked. She was wearing a long black cloak that rustled when she walked and her face was extremely ugly with a large, beak-like nose, thin lips, and narrow orange eyes.
“Er, yes—that’s me,” I said.
“Good. I’m here to serve you with some legal documents,” she said, pronouncing it “dawk-uments” in a voice that sounded like the cawing of a crow.
“Legal documents?” I said, feeling my stomach drop to the floor. “You mean because of the pear tarts?”
“Exactly.” She nodded and spread her cloak open—I realized when she did why it had been rustling. It was made of long black feathers the length of my arm. Underneath she was wearing a black business suit and her legs, when they were revealed, were spindly and yellow. They ended in three-toed feet that looked like enormous bird’s feet.
I couldn’t figure out what kind of Creature the woman was—maybe a Harpy? At any rate, she clearly wasn’t human. However, I was more concerned about the documents she was holding out to me than placing exactly what magical species she was.
“What are these for?” I asked, looking down at the documents which were covered in a tiny, dense script I didn’t think I’d be able to read without a microscope. “Is someone upset about the, er, effects of the pear tarts?”
“Not quite—this is a suit brought against you by Mr. Goremouth,” she said in her cawing voice.
“Who?” I shook my head—I didn’t remember having a customer with that name.
“Mr. Guglor Goremouth—the Ogre you stole the Golden-Skinned Warbler pears from in order to make your tarts,” she snapped. “He’s summoning you to court at once for immediate satisfaction!”
“What? You can’t just—” I began.
“Yes, we can. I’m his attorney, Counselor Heketate. Here!” And she shoved the papers at me.
Goody Albright, who was still standing beside me, suddenly gripped my arm.
“No, Celia! Don’t accept—” she began but my hand was already closing on the sheaf of papers.
The moment the paperwork was in my grasp, the world around me melted away. The front porch of the Red Lion and Main Street itself were suddenly gone and I was floating in a terrifying black void.
I had no idea what as happening—all I knew was that I was scared to death.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
For a moment there was nothing but a terrifying black void all around me. Then the world began to take shape and I found I was standing in a courtroom—but it wasn’t like any courtroom in the Mortal Realm.
It was a huge, shadowy room with glowing green doors on either side—one on the left and one on the right. The judge’s seat was located at least ten feet above the rest of the courtroom and there was no place to sit for either the defendant or the plaintiff. Speaking of the plaintiff, where was he?